Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+ 16GB Graphics Card Review

With the launch of the RX 7800 XT, while AMD released their MBA/reference model, they decided not to send us one for launch, though instead, we ended up with three AIB cards instead including the beauty that we have here today. The Sapphire Nitro+. I say beauty because it really is one of the best-looking cards on the market, and I said exactly the same when we looked at the 7900 XTX Nitro+ edition, and we were really impressed with it, so I'm expecting some pretty great things. Nitro+ The Nitro+ cooler from Sapphire is one of their top-tier coolers, and it's clear to see why, with a clean design that offers up virtually silent operation, all while keeping temperatures remarkably low. Normally with a GPU, you end up with a trade-off of high temperatures with low noise, or for it to be louder than a jet engine, but then leading to extremely cool temperatures while the Nitro+ manages to harness the benefits of both areas with no drawbacks. Sure, the one drawback could be the extra cost involved, but as someone who has tested literally thousands of graphics cards, this is one where you don't feel like you're paying extra and receiving nothing in return, which is something we're all too familiar with after the last few years of paying over the odds for GPUs. So if Sapphire is able to take a cooler that can keep the 7900 XTX under control, then I think we're in for a real treat with the 7800 XT Nitro+ that we have here today. Features RDNA3 Based GPU 16GB GDDR6 DisplayPort 2.1 BIOS Switch WAVE Fin Design & V-Shape Fin Design Aluminium Alloy Frame Digital Power Design High TG Copper PCB Tough Metal Backplate Dedicated VRM Cooling Video If you want to see more of the card, you can check out our dedicated video review below. A Closer Look When Sapphire introduced the Nitro+ range, I immediately became a big fan of it as it honestly looks like a card that was thought up in Apple’s offices. It’s clean, it’s big and it just works. I’d even be as bold to say it’s one of the nicest looking cards on the planet and that’s not just in regards to the design, but the build quality as well. It feels solid and that’s reflected in the weight, coming in at 1830 grams it’s fairly big too at 320mm long, 134mm high and 62mm thick meaning that it will take up 3 slots inside your case so definitely check that out first. In terms of the design, it actually has a severe lack of branding on the front, with just a single logo in the middle of the center fan, but I like that. It keeps things clean and simple and is just enough to break up the smooth gun metal grey shroud and black angled hybrid fan blades. Beyond the front, the only splash of colour is along the top through the way of a large RGB light bar with again, simple branding. There’s a Sapphire logo down one end, and a Radeon logo down the other, and again it’s hard not to like it. It’s not too in your face but is enough to know which brand of GPU it is. The full metal backplate seamlessly integrates and moulds into the end of the card and has plenty of perforation as well as a cut out towards the end to help with heat dissipation and is finished in the same gun metal grey colour. For the I/O, we have two DisplayPort connectors and two HDMI ports and due to its thickness, the rest of the space has been utilised for ventilation for heat to escape out of. Taking the card apart reveals the large PCB beneath which is almost the length of the cooler. Again, AMD cards seem to utilise a lot of space, and the layout is pretty typical of what we’d expect. There are two 8-pin power connectors along with an ARGB out connector towards the top right of the card, as well as a BIOS switch at the opposite end. Power-wise, Sapphire is using 14 phases in total which are split between 8 for the graphics, 2 for the SOC, 2 for memory and another two for other components. Sapphire has opted for a wave fin heatsink with a v-shaped fin design which is said to reduce turbulence noise as well as force air directly around the GPU to help dissipate heat in the best way possible. For the VRMs, there are dedicated plates that make direct contact to push heat away into the rest of the finned stack through the five composite heatpipes. Also for extra rigidity due to the weight, Sapphire have used an alloy frame that helps fix the main structure of the cooler to the PCB without putting undue flex onto the board and this goes from end to end and fixes into the I/O plate. How We Test We continue to update our testing methods around once per year. As such, we re-test older hardware to reflect changes over time. These can be driver updates, Windows updates, game patches, and more; all of which have an impact on performance figures. Furthermore, we update our test benches to newer and more relevant hardware. This means that our new reviews aren’t always comparable to those of older reviews, so please compare the testing methodology on older reviews should you be trying to compare them with newer ones. Replicate Our Results When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory and are kept as simple as possible, although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of a graphics card, CPU, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you’re looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using the benchmarks available to you. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware tested here to give you a ballpark figure of how much of an upgrade this will provide you with. Processor Test Systems Test System (GPU) Motherboard ASUS ROG Z690 Maximus HeroBIOS Version 1720 Buy Now Processor Intel Core i9 12900K Review Buy Now GPU Changes Per Review RAM Patriot Viper Venom 32GB (2x16GB) 6200MHz Review Buy Now CPU Cooler NZXT Kraken Z73 RGB Buy Now Power Supply NZXT C1000 Gold Review Buy Now Storage Seagate FIRECUDA 530 1TB Review Buy Now Chassis NZXT H7 Flow Review Buy Now OS Windows 11 Pro Version 21H2 Drivers AMD Graphics: 22.10.1NVIDIA Graphics: 521.90 Software We use a variety of software from different developers to assist in our testing and to give us the most consistent results possible. Some applications are specifically used for testing, while others are simply used for monitoring and to aid us in making sure that our results are as accurate as possible. Gaming To gauge performance levels which are easily reproduced time after time, by both ourselves and our readers, we now stick strictly to games' default profiles. Given how powerful most modern cards are getting, we've begun using more demanding profiles for most games, but will otherwise state on a per-game basis if we use other profiles beyond High, Ultra, Maximum or their respective equivalent at all resolutions. V-Sync is always disabled in our testing, and all FPS caps that can be removed are. We also enable XMP and Resizable bar technology across all platforms to keep things as fair as possible. Games While we test a lot of games, it's not possible to display all of the data on the website or in our videos. Instead, we include access to all of our testing data for our Patreon members (link), where members get a ton of other benefits as well. What we do, however, is display charts for averages across all game titles to give a better picture of performance across all titles tested. Call Of Duty Warzone Cyberpunk 2077 Death Stranding Watch Dogs: Legion Resolutions 1440p (2560 x 1440) Some tests will also include features such as NVIDIA DLSS and Ray Tracing. However, these will be clearly labelled and may only appear in reviews for graphics cards that support those features. Power Consumption Not being content on simply reading total system power draw, we now run F1 22 for an hour loop and measure power draw at the end of the loop for the most accurate measurement that represents real-world gameplay experience. Temperatures We take temperature readings after the same hour long F1 22 loop with no other background programs running, again to simulate a real-world gaming experience. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141. From small-scale, high-stakes infiltration tactical ops to highly classified missions, players will deploy alongside friends in a truly immersive experience. Available now on Steam. To check to make sure that the Sapphire card is performing as it should be, we find that in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the Sapphire Nitro+ and XFX MERC 319 come in with identical performance, though the Sapphire does command a margin of error lead in the 1% lows. Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure RPG set in the megalopolis of Night City, where you play as a cyberpunk mercenary wrapped up in a do-or-die fight for survival. Improved and featuring all-new free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades. The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be? Available now on Steam. Cyberpunk sees the Sapphire coming in at 96 FPS in the average, which is 2 FPS behind the XFX card, though again at just 2% difference, I'd chalk this up as margin of error and claim that performance is identical, at least for something that's not noticeable in game. Death Stranding From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes a genre-defying experience, now expanded in this definitive DIRECTOR’S CUT. As Sam Bridges, your mission is to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America. Can you reunite the shattered world, one step at a time? Available now on Steam. It's the same story in Death Stranding though the Sapphire card comes out on top, again by you guessed it. 2% so it's clear to see that the Nitro+ is bang on the money in terms of where performance lines up, and it's probably clear to see why we don't test each AIB model in the whole suite of games when performance is this close to each other. Watch Dogs: Legion Build a resistance from virtually anyone you see as you hack, infiltrate, and fight to take back a near-future London that is facing its downfall. Welcome to the Resistance. Recruit and play as anyone in the city. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set. Available now on UPlay. Finally, in Watch Dogs: Legion, it scored 114 FPS with 93 FPS in the 1 % lows. This again matches up with both the Gigabyte and XFX 7800 XT's that we've also tested so no anomalies within the performance of the Sapphire card. Power & Temperatures For an area that does make a difference, we booted up F1 22 for an hour long loop to see exactly how the card performs under a prolonged gaming session in terms of temperatures and cooling performance. It's here where we can see that in F1 during our hour-long stress test, the GPU temperature came in at 64 degrees max, but mainly hovered around the 62-degree mark, with a hot spot of 85 degrees max. The memory junction temperature maxed out around 80 degrees and our core clock managed to sit around 2660MHz, though did have moments where it rose to just under 2700MHz. The big thing is the fan speed, which didn’t push above 1200 RPM for the most part, but actually sat around 1,000 RPM with some dips down to 850 RPM at certain points all while pulling 273 Watts. How Much Does it Cost? The Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+ is available for $549, which is $49 more expensive than an MSRP-based card, and honestly, I'm fine with that. The sheer quality of the cooler and the overall design of the card including having a card made by Sapphire frankly ticks all of the right boxes for me for paying a little more money. Also couple that with the fact that the 7800 XT as a GPU outperforms when NVIDIA have to offer for a cheaper price means that even with spending a little extra money, you'll still saving in comparison to what team green have and that is what AMD have always historically been about. A great product for a cheaper price, and Sapphire have allowed themselves to improve upon that. Overview Now I'll be honest, when we do these launches and look at multiple AIB models of the same GPU, it's a bit of a spirit breaker. It leaves us with nothing to really talk about in terms of the GPU because they all perform within a margin of error 2% or so of each other so it does make for a boring conclusion, though with cards like the Nitro+, we can focus on what Sapphire have done, and without repeating myself from when I've looked at other Nitro+ cards in the past, they really have knocked it out of the park again. The card is gorgeous and would look great inside any system, especially if you can get it mounted vertically to show off that clean front shroud and that all-important RGB, and while I get that it's not for everyone, that's the beauty of it. You can change it to adapt to you and your preference, whether that be changing it to a solid colour or a different pattern, or simply turning it off completely. I mentioned before that if Apple were to make a GPU, I think this would be it, or an NVIDIA FE card, but with me focussing on AMD today, I'll stick with that. It's a big card, don't get me wrong but that also adds something to the elemental feel of the build quality. If something is big and feels heavy, it's generally because of the material used and that's exactly what this feels like. A solidly built product from the ground up and from a brand you know you can trust. That's why whenever you think of an AMD GPU, you instantly think of Sapphire. They simply are the go-to brand for AMD graphics cards. So what about the cooling performance? I'm a little torn, but don't worry, it's all good. Sapphire have done an amazing job to keep the 7800 XT's core under control, and if anything they've done too good of a job, as the fans may as well have not even powered up. The card was kept cool and quiet, but if you've checked out our other 7800 XT content, then you'll know that they weren't the coolest, being beaten by XFX, albeit, not by much, though the XFX card came in, still quiet, but noisier and faster in terms of fan speed than the Sapphire, and I want to say that I think there may be a compromise where Sapphire could adjust the fan curve slightly, and possibly be the coolest, while still being the quietest, and I've told our Sapphire contact exactly that, so we'll see what the future holds if they take my line of thinking and adapt it into upcoming new products. Should I Buy One? I'm struggling to really find fault with the Sapphire Nitro+, other than the fact that I've mentioned in our other reviews that the 7800 XT is a fantastically boring product. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but from the GPU side I was expecting a little more, but... if you are set on a 7800 XT, then the Nitro+ is a version that I think is hard to ignore, and I defy anyone to say that it's not a stunningly beautiful looking card and for me, it just ticks every single box for what you'd want from a GPU. Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+